PLASMAVIE Sherbrooke: a blood donation experience to discover in Estrie
Sherbrooke, March 15, 2016—Héma-Québec is officially launching the PLASMAVIE Plasma Donor Lounge activities in Sherbrooke. Estrie donors, who are already very invested in the cause of blood donation, now have a complementary alternative to mobile blood drives. They are invited to give blood in a pleasant and personalized atmosphere.
This third PLASMAVIE will enable Héma-Québec to increase its plasma self-sufficiency and, in turn, reduce its sourcing of this product abroad. “The Estrie region is recognized for its enthusiasm when it comes to blood donation. We are very proud of this new centre that will enable us to have more autonomy with regard to blood products and to better meet the needs of our health system and, therefore, the Québec population,” explains Serge Maltais, President and CEO of Héma-Québec.
The Sherbrooke facility will be dedicated exclusively to plasma collection, using the apheresis technique. This type of donation is performed using a device that receives the donor’s blood, separates it into its various components, and returns the unselected components to the donor. In other words, it is a collection technique in which plasma is collected in a selective manner. The possible frequency for this type of donation is much greater than that for whole blood. You can give plasma by apheresis every six days, up to 50 times per year, whereas whole blood can only be donated every 56 days, i.e., six times per year.
Once it reaches its cruising speed, the Sherbrooke PLASMAVIE will welcome 400 donors per week, which represents 20,000 collections per year. The centre required a nearly $2 million-dollar investment and was backed by Sherbrooke Innopole.
“The people and city of Sherbrooke have always supported the cause of blood donation. The arrival of a permanent Héma-Québec facility here is definitely great news in terms of economic development, but it also shows our collective ability to actively support the gift of life,” stated Robert Pouliot, acting mayor, Ascot city councillor and himself an avid blood donor.
Give plasma. Give life.
Plasma is the liquid component of blood that contains red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. The plasma collected in Sherbrooke will be used to manufacture medications such as the ones received by little Alyssia, born at 25 weeks and today aged 3 years old. “My daughter was born very premature and received several transfusions and plasma-based medications. For my spouse and I, it was only natural that we would become plasma donors and give back. Without these donations, Alyssia wouldn’t be with us today and wouldn’t be able to be a big sister to Luka,” Stéfanie Carrier explains.
For more information on this PLASMAVIE centre, consult the information sheets included with the release or visit www.plasmavie.ca.
About Héma-Québec
Héma-Québec’s mission is to efficiently meet the needs of the Québec population for safe, optimal-quality blood and blood products, human tissues, cord blood, mother’s milk and cellular products; and to develop and provide expertise and specialized, innovative services in the field of human biological products.
Héma-Québec encompasses 1,300 employees, over 300,000 donor visits to blood drives per year, 16,000 volunteers and more than 500,000 blood products delivered annually to Québec hospitals to meet the needs of patients.
Give blood. Give life.
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Source and information
Héma-Québec
Media line: 514-832-0871
www.hema-quebec.qc.ca